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College gets nod in State of the Union address

President urges business-college partnerships like those in Louisville

Innovative community college and business partnerships such as Metropolitan College
drew the attention of President Obama in Tuesday s State of the Union speech.

Join me in a national commitment to train two million Americans with skills that
will lead directly to a job, Obama said. My administration has already lined up
more companies that want to help. Model partnerships between businesses like Siemens
and community colleges in places like Charlotte, Orlando, and Louisville are up and
running. Now you need to give more community colleges the resources they need to become
community career centers places that teach people skills that local businesses are
looking for right now, from data management to high-tech manufacturing.

Although not mentioned by name in the speech, Metropolitan College was a topic of
conversation when Dr. Tony Newberry, president of Jefferson Community amp; Technical
College and Michael Francesconi, vice president for UPS, were invited to the historic
White House Summit on Community Colleges in October 2010. Newberry was one of about
only 20 community college presidents invited to attend the summit. There are nearly
1,200 community colleges in the United States.

Congressman John Yarmuth s office confirmed that the President s reference was to
the partnership.

Metropolitan College has been such highly successful partnership in terms of both
workforce retention and academic success that it serves as a model for other cities,
Newberry said. We were pleased to be able to present this partnership at the White
House and pleased that it obviously made an impact on the President.

The partnership involves UPS, JCTC and the University of Louisville. It was created
in 1998 in collaboration with state and local government as UPS was planning the expansion
of its air division and package sorting hub. Metropolitan College hires students to
work in its Next Day Air operation. Students receive wages, full benefits as well
as paid tuition at either JCTC or U of L, book reimbursements and academic and work-related
bonuses. The program ensures that UPS has an adequate workforce by both attracting
and retaining employees. It also eliminates financial barriers to attending college.

In addition, JCTC has numerous other partnerships with businesses, including Ford,
Toyota and Norton Healthcare. The college has played an integral role in training employees on Ford s new line at
the Fern Valley Road plant. Its automotive technology program partnership with Toyota,
which serves students and dealerships in a six-state region, was recently recognized
by Toyota as one of its leading programs. In addition, the college has partnerships
with Norton Healthcare to training allied health and nursing professional in numerous
disciplines.

Our partnerships allow us to be innovative and to serve the needs both students and
employers, Newberry said. By partnering with business and industry we can ensure
that employers have the skills and the employees they need. It also helps us design
programs that lead to high-growth, high-wage wages; the kind the president wants us
to pursue.

Jefferson also is emerging as a partner in the new Bluegrass Economic Advancement
Movement, created by the mayors of Louisville and Lexington to promote bringing advanced
manufacturing to the region